What is Triangular Christianity? (3)

If Triangular Christianity is the essence of Biblical Christianity, it is the second side of the Triangle – your relationship with God – that most often gets overlooked.

The first side of the triangle – my relationship with God – is pretty simple. In fact, this is something that most American Christians have absolutely no problem understanding and nurturing. It is also easy to understand the third side of the triangle – our relationship to one another. I think the reason these two are so easy to understand is because they both involve “me”! But what about the side that has nothing to do with me? Am I to be concerned with your relationship with God? Absolutely.
Consider Paul’s admonition to carry one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). In context, the burdens that are to be carried are personal sins (Gal. 6:1). Therefore, I am admonished to help you carry your sin and, in a spirit of gentleness, help you to be reconciled to God (Gal. 6:1). As Gene Getz summarizes: “Christians do have a responsibility when others sin. We have no choice if we want to be in God’s will. We are to attempt to restore that person – to help him acknowledge his sin and overcome it” (Building Up One Another, 123).

Paul provides another example in his discussion of liberty in Romans 14. In summary, Christians should “determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister” (Rom. 14:13). Christians should be willing to sacrifice their own liberty rather than to cause another brother or sister to stumble in the faith. Why? Because nurturing your relationship with God is just as important as nurturing my own relationship with God.

Triangular Christianity teaches us that we must be committed to the spiritual well-being (for lack of a better term) of our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we practiced this level of concern, wouldn’t it revolutionize our prayer, our fellowship, and our worship?